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Re: Context confusion

  • To: mathgroup at christensen.cybernetics.net
  • Subject: [mg1543] Re: [mg1530] Context confusion
  • From: twj (Tom Wickham-Jones)
  • Date: Sat, 24 Jun 1995 02:57:34 -0400

Daryl Reece writes


>   Back to my context confusion question.  I think it is behaving like I 

>originally thought so my question still exists.  Maybe someone can read 

>this example and explain why I am confused:
>   

>   BeginPackage["Thermal`", "Packages`Miscellaneous`Units`",
>   "Packages`Miscellaneous`SIUnits`", "Global`"];
>   

>   Needs::nocont: 

>      Warning:Context Packages`Miscellaneous`Units`
>        was not created when Needs was evaluated.
>   Needs::nocont: 

>      Warning:Context Packages`Miscellaneous`SIUnits`
>        was not created when Needs was evaluated.

BeginPackage will do a Needs on the optional arguments (they follow 

the first).  In this case Needs[ "Packages`Miscellaneous`Units`"]
is evaluated and so on.   It appears that the Packages directory is on
$Path and so the Miscellaneous`Units` package is found and this
is loaded.   The context defined in this package is Miscellaneous`Units`
not Packages`Miscellaneous`Units`, the context in the original Needs.
Thus a warning message tells you that you did Needs of a context and
did not create that a context,  an indication that something is wrong.

The solution here is to use the proper name for the package which is
Miscellaneous`Units`.   Thus the BeginPackage should look like

BeginPackage["Thermal`", "Miscellaneous`Units`",
		"Miscellaneous`SIUnits`", "Global`"];


>   Options[Grashof] = {Temperature->300 Kelvin}
>   

>   Kelvin::shdw: 

>      Warning: Symbol Kelvin appears in multiple contexts 

>       {Thermal`, Miscellaneous`SIUnits`}; definitions in
>        context Thermal` may shadow or be shadowed by other
>        definitions.


>"When Mathematica encounters a symbol 

>in the input that you type or that is read from a file, it searches the 

>current context and then all the contexts on the context path for this 

>symbol."  Why then does MMA create 2 versions of Kelvin when both contexts 

>are on the $ContextPath?

Look at $ContextPath and $Context and you will see what is happening...

In[3]:= $ContextPath

Out[3]= {Thermal`, Packages`Miscellaneous`Units`, 

 

>    Packages`Miscellaneous`SIUnits`, Global`, System`}

In[4]:= $Context

Out[4]= Thermal`


Thus when a symbol Kelvin is created it is not found in any context
in $Context or $ContextPath.  The contexts on the latter include
Packages`Miscellaneous`Units` and not Miscellaneous`Units`.
This means a new symbol Kelvin is created in $Context, Thermal`,
and this shadows the symbol Kelvin in Miscellaneous`Units`.


So the solution to these problems is to change the BeginPackage to:

BeginPackage["Thermal`", "Miscellaneous`Units`",
		"Miscellaneous`SIUnits`", "Global`"];



Tom Wickham-Jones
WRI




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